“I AM A CHAMPION!”

This is the kind of never-quit spirit that first gave birth to the 2nd Cup of Coffee blog. Take the time to read the story. I hope the included links work. If they don’t, simply type ‘Olivia Wise’ into your search engine and listen to this indomitable young spirit soar.

Dying teen covers Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’

By Sara Ganim and AnneClaire Stapleton, CNN

updated 11:42 AM EDT, Sat November 2, 2013

“Olivia is a fighter and has gone through the fire,” a family member says.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Olivia Wise, 16, has an inoperable brain tumor

She recently recorded Katy Perry’s “Roar”

Perry responded, telling Wise, “I love you. A lot of people love you”

(CNN) — When she was healthy, Olivia Wise used to sit in front of her locker at school and sing for her friends.

She loved learning new things, and she wanted to be a pediatrician.

Olivia is just 16, and she is dying of an inoperable brain tumor.

In September, knowing that there was no more treatment available, the Toronto teen went to a recording studio to immortalize her voice — one that has brought to joy to her family and friends in her short life.

As the song goes, Olivia sings, “I got the eye of a tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire.”

A few more chords, and the corners of her mouth rise again.

“Olivia is a fighter and has gone through the fire,” her cousin wrote in the post under the video posting on YouTube. “In fact, she was going through the fire while she recorded this song, but you wouldn’t know it, because she was dancing right through it.”

That recording was made on September 6. In the weeks that have followed, Wise’s condition has deteriorated, but the response to her video has gone viral. The Liv Wise Fund, started in her name in support of brain tumor research, has raised more than $27,000, and the video got enough attention to prompt a response from Perry about how moved she was by Olivia.

Wise is at home now, and her family is making her as comfortable as possible. She is only conscious for moments at a time, her family said.

“Her health is really bad, she’s at the end,” her cousin Jeff Kassel said. “She is still conscious at times and taking it all in.”

Wise was vacationing in Florida in January 2012 when she had a seizure. She was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer.

Immediately, she knew the prognosis was bad, but her mother says she has barely complained.

“Every day, she wished for a cure, and rarely succumbed to negative thoughts,” her mom said.

She insisted on keeping up with her studies until just a few weeks ago.

“To tell the truth, her diagnosis didn’t change her personality,” her mom said. “It only enhanced it. She took the news in a mature, reasonable, responsible way. … Even in the most difficult moments, she managed to bring laughter and friendship to all that were caring for her.”

She woke up each day with a goal to find something bright, to be happy, her mom said. And she wasn’t afraid of being vulnerable.

So when a family friend with a recording studio offered her the opportunity, she went for it.

“It was spontaneous,” Kassel said. “And we didn’t know with her health if she would be able to do it, but she did. For a 16-year-old, this is becoming her legacy, and it’s such a beautiful thing.”

Some still ask me why I write. This is why. So long as there is one out there who needs a friend; who needs somebody to encourage and be supportive, to love and challenge on to personal and spiritual excellence, I will always be here.

Now–stop and visit with this amazing young lady. I was in tears by the time she was done.